#29 - Jason Hill: We Have Overcome

My guest today is Dr. Jason Hill. Dr. Hill is a professor of philosophy at DePaul University and the author of four books. He holds a P.h.D. in philosophy and has been a professional writer and book author for over 30 years.

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My guest today is Dr. Jason Hill. Dr. Hill is a professor of philosophy at DePaul University and the author of four books. He holds a P.h.D. in philosophy and has been a professional writer and book author for over 30 years. Dr. Hill has been interviewed on the Today Show, Fox News, and NPR, among other notable media outlets. 

In this episode, Jason and I discussed his first days in the US as an immigrant from Jamaica. We talked about his perspective on racism in America. Jason shared his thoughts on the motivations behind recent racial and educational trends in the United States. We discussed our critiques of Ta-Nehisi Coates' book, Between the World and Me. And we briefly touched on the idea of reparations. 

Selected links from the show:

• We Have Overcome by Jason Hill

• Jason's website, Twitter, Amazon page

• Jason's column on FrontPage

• The Coddling of the American Mind by Jon Haidt and Greg Lukianoff

• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi

• White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Chicago Suburb Shapes Reparations for Black Residents

Show notes:

02:12 - Jason's first day in America

04:37 - How Jason found his first job

08:45 - The source of Jason's work ethic

12:50 - The American Dream story of Jason's friend Thai

"Where others saw oppressive moments, we saw chunks of opportunity that we would carve out for ourselves...The philosophy of life you adopt is 50% of the road to success." 

16:55 - Differing perspectives on racism between immigrants and minorities born in the United States

"Race is not a determinant of one's destiny."

24:46 - The degree to which Jason believes racism is a problem in America

36:15 - The motive behind recent racial trends in the United States

42:09 - The idea of civilizational fatigue

46:23 - Jason's proposed solution to late state capitalism

52:11 - Ta-Nehisi Coates' denigration of the American Dream

"There is no single algorithm or metric by which to judge the American Dream. It's a dream that fits the scale of your talent and the scope of your ambition."

1:02:58 - A conversation on reparations

1:08:32 - Jason's question for me

1:14:23 - Jason's advice to a recent college grad

1:14:54 - Jason's favorite mental model

1:15:18 - The kindest thing anyone has done for Jason

"Every idea has its time, and yours just hasn't come yet."

1:16:18 - Where you can connect with Jason